On Saturday, November 14th Johnny Brenda’s is hosting a Wet Hop Rodeo, a roundup of wet-hopped beers from around the area and around the country.

Beer is typically made with hops that are dried to preserve the ingredient and make it suitable to ship and store. But some oils and tastes are lost in the process. A wet-hopped beer is made with fresh, not dried hops and tends to be especially fragrant and hoppy.

Typically these wet-hopped beers have come from Northwestern brewers near hops fields. But as Eastern brewers and farmers have experimented with growing  their own hops, wet-hopped beers have made their way east.

Philadelphia Brewing Company’s Harvest from the Hood is truly from the neighborhood with hops harvested at Kensington’s Greensgrow Farm.

• Victory Harvest Pils
• Victory Harvest Ale
• Weyerbacher Harvest Ale
• Philadelphia Brewing Company Harvest from the Hood
• Manayunk Brewing Hop Harvest
• Port Brewing High Tide
• Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale
• Rogue Wet Hop Ale
• Iron Hill Wet Hopped Ale firkin

Wet Hop Rodeo: A Round-Up of Local and National Wet-Hopped Beer [Johnny Brenda's]

Phoodie tips as off that the Music Fountain Cafe has quietly opened on East Girard Avenue in Fishtown. It’s a throwback classic of a soda fountain and coffee shop serving up Bassett’s ice cream and LaColombe coffee. There’s even a free jukebox filled with oldies to take you back to a simpler time, as long as you think of maintaining a fallout shelter (there’s even an era appropriate sign on the one wall) as a simpler time.

It looks very slick and Phoodie has many more photos.

The Music Fountain: Pretty Much The Cutest Thing Ever [Phoodie.info]
The Music Fountain [Facebook]

The slickly-muraled Milkcrate Cafe has opened on Girard Avenue at Columbia. The former Canvas Cafe is now a coffee shop and record store by Adam Porter (who you may know better as DJ Botany 500).

Available today is coffee and espresso from La Colombe, bagels from South Street Bagels and pastries from Le Bus. Look for an expanding menu of sandwiches within a month.

The Crate Leap Forward [Thrillist]
Milkcrate Cafe [Official Site]

Whiskey doughnuts and the Phillies? That’s what Johnny Brenda’s is enticing us with this Sunday.

JBs Downstairs Bar Presents – PHILLIES BRUNCH: Phillies vs. Marlins

GAMETIME IS AT 1:35pm. We’re gonna set up that big TV we had up for last years playoffs / championship games. That way you can drink Bloody Marys and eat brunch while nursing your hangover without having to clean up dishes or anything!

Sunday 8/9 – JBs Downstairs Bar Presents – PHILLIES BRUNCH: Phillies vs. Marlins [Johnny Brenda's]

More than you might think. It would seem Girard Avenue’s Ekta failed to renew its domain name as the old site now loads up midget porn.

The new site is http://ektaindianrestaurant.com/, adjust your bookmarks accordingly!

Ekta Indian Cuisine [Official Site]

Gordon Ramsay is bringing his abrasive makeover techniques that have made Kitchen Nightmares a success to Hot Potato Cafe in Fishtown. Filming will be taking place this week.

If Brian McManus’ scolding and scalding “Spuddy Hell” review from July, 2007 is any indication, Gordo has his work cut out for him.

Inqlings: Ramsay’s recipe in Fishtown [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Spuddy Hell [Philadelphia Weekly]
Hot Potato Cafe [Official Site]

Make like burger crooner Craig LaBan and head over to Sketch for a “smashed onion burger.”

GoodTaste [Philadelphia Inquirer]

It’s hard to believe that Memphis Taproom is already a year old but that’s what they’re telling us. And since Memphis seems to know how to throw a bash we aren’t surprised to see that their anniversary will feature some very special beers including Taras Boulba, Schlenkerla Fastenbier and Cantillon Vignerrone on draft.

The party starts at 5pm on Wednesday, April 22nd and complimentary food will be available.

And as always, get there the night before to enjoy “deeply discounted beer” after 7pm to make room for the anniversary party lineup.

Memphis Taproom [Official Site]

Rick Nichols recounts the story of Fishtown and the shad that gave the area it’s name.

It was 28 years ago that Lambertville threw a Shad Fest to mark the turnabout. And this year on the same date, April 25, in Penn Treaty Park off Delaware Avenue, Fishtown is getting into the act with a Shad Fest of its own.

Last week a big banner featuring the silvery fish went up outside Johnny Brenda’s, one of Fishtown’s new wave of gastropubs. Chef-owner Paul Kimport, who also heads the local business association, was getting a griller-smoker rig fabricated. And designing a shad sandwich with fish (probably from off North Carolina), Groff’s double-smoked bacon, and garlicky spring ramps, and roe with Amish brown butter, lemon, capers, and toast points.

A fish town once more [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Fishtown Shad Fest [Official Site]

David Snyder learns it’s the ingredients that are the special ingredient at Ekta.

“Garam masala,” Bhattarai cited when asked about the ingredients in the dishes I ate. This spice blend is very common in Indian cuisine. But what is unique about Ekta’s, I learned after some gentle prodding, is that Bhattarai makes it from scratch by blending more than 10 different components, including coriander, black and green cardamom and star anise. “It’s hard,” Bhattarai told me, “but it brings real good flavor and good taste.”

The Magic Powder [City Paper]